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#Masterchef Recap 18 July: Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb

We’re back. Everyone’s back in Sydney, and Kate, Billy and Ellie are fighting it out for elimination. Kate is wearing her lucky macaroni necklace made by her four year old, to remind herself that she’s a mum. Is it that easy to forget?

Sitting by the fire, Ellie fondles her precioussss. Will she use the immunity pin? We quickly recap all her pressure test victories. She’s survived five. I guess she’s good at this. What will the Elliminator do?

Ellie contemplates using her immunity pin

They arrive in the kitchen and Dani calls Ellie ‘Allie’ again. What is that about? Matt asks her if she’ll use her pin. Gary and George try to trick her into using it. Surprisingly, it doesn’t work. She uses it, and Gary calls her a chicken. This leaves two of the best fighting it out, while Team Idiot is safe.

It’s a traditional pressure test, with a recipe and all the ingredients. The dish, however, is not so straightforward. It is a dessert made by Katrina Kanetani, world-reknown pastry chef. They will be cooking Autumn. Wait, what? God pastry chefs are weird.

Not a dish.

Katrina lifts the lid to reveal an incredibly complicated looking dish – a square of blackcurrent jelly, a mousse, slow baked rhubarb, rose cannoli and a ton of other stuff. Billy doesn’t even know how to eat it. The pressure points are the blackcurrant, the cannoli and the rhubarb.

They’re off! In an action-packed first few minutes, they read the recipe, then read it again. To kill time, everyone talks about how hard this challenge is again. Reading is bad television.

Except in some circumstances

Billy’s on his cannoli dough. He’s forgotten his cinnamon! Michael reminds him. Don’t worry Billy, it’s only the core flavour of the dough. I am worried for Billy. Kate’s up to her jelly already.George brings over Katrina to bother the contestants. She doesn’t have much to say. She has the same ‘can’t talk to humans’ vibe as Zumbo.

'I only talk to the cakes'

Billy is trying to save time with his jelly by putting it in an ice bath. It makes his jelly lumpy. Stop improvising, Billy!

Gary demands to see Kate’s cannoli dough. They tell her it’s wrong, as is her jelly. They are less impressed with Billy’s jelly. It is lumpy, sure, but a much better colour than Kate’s. He remakes it, and Kate makes her dough.

Billy is multitasking by peeling rhubarb while his plum sauce reduces. Katrina tells him the rhubarb will be cooked when it looks cooked. That is not helpful advice. Billy tops this by reminding George that ‘you’re always under pressure in the pressure test’.

An hour to go! Oh no, now Dani is giving Billy advice. I wouldn’t take her advice. Kate’s on the decorative yuzu cream. Sounds delicious.

This is a yuzu

Kate’s forgotten her rhubarb and it is wildly overcooked.Billy’s second lot of jelly looks great! Both of them are onto the cannoli filling now. Gary comes and tells Billy that he has to be absolutely perfect. Then he tells him again. Billy brains him with a mixing machine.

Time to rolli canolli – thirty minutes to go! Yes, George actually said that. Obediently, everyone starts rolling their canolli. Billy is making it as thin as possible. Kate gets a serious amount of assistance from Katrina. Her success at the dough is diminished by Gary who identifies that her mousse hasn’t set. Kate whacks it in the blast freezer, who worries that this will create the same problem if it freezes. That is the opposite problem.

Billy’s pastry is too long. His mousse is also in the blast chiller. Come on Billy, don’t muck this up. Katrina comes and listlessly tells Kate to seal her cannoli with egg. She doesn’t really seem into this competition, to be honest.

'There is no Masterchef but me'

Fifteen minutes to go, and they’re still making cannoli. George reckons it would take a professional seven minutes to plate up. Kate’s struggling to get a square of jelly off her tray. This is much harder than she thought it would be.

The nice people from the supermarket lobby have commissioned anther ad to tell us what’s new. Apparently the answer is ‘eggs’. Seriously, eggs?

Kate finally stops using her hands and gets a spatula. Magically, that works. Apparently it’s like handling her newborn baby. You picked up your baby with a spatula?

With a spatula of love

Billy’s jelly is perfect but his mousse is the wrong consistency. It’s better than Kate’s mousse. Half of it is frozen solid, and half of it isn’t set. She manages to salvage some with help from George. As usual, nobody is helping Billy.

They’re plating up. Billy is smashing it as usual. Kate is struggling but still manages to get something pretty close up. That is amazing! Billy and Kate hug, then Kate realises that she’s forgotten her flowers. You know what would have been funny? Seeing Ellie trying to do this.

'I couldn't make the dish, but I piled these apples up all by myself!'

Judging time. Katrina gives one-word answers to Gary. Billy’s first, and his dish looks amazing. He admits to a few hiccups, but is happy overall. Katrina is pretty happy with the presentation, but George is unimpressed with the mousse. Gary demands a full cannoli as they taste. The pastry is perfect, but the jelly lacks flavour and the mousse tastes weird. The cannoli filling doesn’t really have the rosewater flavour, but the rhubarb is great. Oh no, Billy!

Kate is up. Her dish looks completely ridiculous after seeing Billy’s. Katrina coldly catalogues everything that’s wrong about the dish. They taste, and it turns out the rhubarb is undercooked. Her mousse is perfect, as are her cannoli. Are her flavours enough to boot off Billy again? I hope not.

Decision time! Kate was lured into Masterchef by watching people like her learn and grow in the previous two seasons. Her dream is to open a B&B with a proper restaurant. Matt has enjoyed seeing Billy come out of his shell. So has Australia! He has learnt to believe in himself. This is overwhelmingly heartwarming.

But one of them has to go. This sucks. Kate is safe. Billy is eliminated for the second time. This is even more disappointing than the first time. Meanwhile, Ellie and Dani are sitting in the Masterchef house giggling inanely. Katrina offers both of them a job.

Since leaving Masterchef Billy has continued his blog – www.atablefortwo.com.au – and is hosting private dessert events. Hope he opens a dessert bar next to my house soon.

It seems pretty clear to me that it’s rigged. Kate is a core ratings demographic for Masterchef – mums. A gay Asian just cannot compete with that viewer pulling power. Her dish was just not as good – ‘flavours’? What about the inedible rhubarb and too-soft mousse? No, Kate had to win. I don’t mind Kate, but I have seen into the producers death-eater souls and I’m not sure I can ever go back.